'Discriminatory' Royal Mail snubs Paralympians for stamps

Instead a series of six first-class stamps featuring every medallist will be produced after the Games finish on September 9, the British Paralympic Association said today.

Officials claimed that it was because there were likely to be too many medal-winners - British Paralympians won 42 golds at the Beijing Games.

But the rising tally of Olympian golds at London 2012, currently heading for the mid-20s, left the excuse looking threadbare.

Paralympians themselves were among those criticising Royal Mail's second-class plans.

Powerlifter Ali Jaward wrote on Twitter: "I think if a British Paralympic athlete wins gold they deserve an individual stamp."

And Disabled People Against the Cuts campaign group founder Linda Burnip said: "I cannot see any real justification for this.

"The achievements of disabled people should receive the same recognition as everyone else."

She said the decision was not the first snub as the majority of the 580 torchbearers selected to take part in the London Paralympic torch relay on August 24 will not be disabled.

The BPA said that Paralympic gold medallists will still receive a £200,000 cash prize to be divided equally, as is the case with Olympic winners.

Postboxes in the home towns of Paralympic gold medallists will also be painted gold.

The association said that because there were so many Paralympic gold medallists "it is logistically and practically impossible for Royal Mail to produce an individual stamp for every one of the gold medallists for Paralympics GB."

Royal Mail confirmed it was issuing a set of stamps on August 29 to mark the start of the Paralympic Games and said it had featured Paralympic sports on stamps issued in the run-up to London 2012.

willstone@peoples-press.com